He said IBRC operated on the “basis of normal banking criteria” including rules around privacy, confidentiality and ethics.

Meanwhile, Fianna Fail has called on the Government to join the High Court action seeking clarity on Dail privilege relating to Mr O’Brien’s banking arrangements with IBRC.

The party called for legal counsel representing the Houses of the Oireachtas to join the case to “reassert the Constitutional protection over the reporting of comments made by members of the Dáil and Seanad under privilege”.

Fianna Fail Senator Thomas Byrne said the country is faced with a “major constitutional crisis” but the Government and the Oireachtas are not “planning to have a voice” in the court case.

“The silence from the Government on this matter is very worrying,” Mr Byrne said.

“Fianna Fáil is calling for legal counsel representing the Dáil and Seanad Committee on Procedure and Privilege (CPP) to join this week’s action in the High Court and to ensure the privilege bestowed on Oireachtas members is not abridged in anyway.

“We have had a grave development in the past week whereby a national broadcaster was unable to report on the utterances of a TD in the Dáil Chamber due to a court order. This is a gross violation of the independence of Dáil Éireann and the right of its elected members to speak on matters of public importance.

“Fianna Fáil is extremely concerned that the Taoiseach, himself the longest serving member of the Dáil, has been silent on the profound seriousness of this attack on the Parliament and the people’s Constitution. We will be raising this issue with the appropriate authorities in the Oireachtas and requesting that the Oireachtas is legally represented in this week’s court action.”